What is needed to create a how and how much it cost to do this with style? This book offers answers to this question in the form of some 70 projects from around the world. Extraordinary residential structures are created with unconventional building techniques and forms, which in comparison with the customary building practices of the same scale suit a limited budget. The spectrum ranges from starter and minimal homes to vacation homes, including also tree houses as well as residence made on re-used containers.

According to the saying, „Necessity is the mother of invention" an astonishing multitude of ideas has produced tasteful, economical buildings, which would cause some luxury homes to shed their paint from envy. In addition to extraordinary houses, this volume also offers a convincing original quotation of the individual projects: all prices were calculated in the Big-Mac-Index in order to give the reader an international basis of comparison.